1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a wiper apparatus incorporated in vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, this type of wiper apparatus, which is a known type, is structured to be an electric device assembled in advance and in which a wiper motor, providing drive power, and a pivot axis, to which a wiper arm is attached, are attached to a pipe member via respective attaching portions. Therefore, the weight thereof is lightened, and the structure is simplified. In addition, the work of assembling the wiper apparatus onto a vehicle is simplified. Thus, in a case of connecting and fixing the attaching portions on the pipe member, it is conventional that the respective attaching portions are separately connected to and fixed at the pipe member. Such a type has been disclosed by, for example, JP-A-11-1278219. In this type, attaching portions, that are formed to match the outer profile of the pipe member, are formed on a gear case that constitutes a wiper motor, and the attaching portions are caused to overlap the pipe member and tightened by tightening means.
In the above-described prior art wiper apparatus, the wiper motor is connected to and fixed at the pipe member with the above-described structure, and, further, a pair of pivot axes are separately connected to and fixed at the pipe member, respectively. Therefore, because tightening means are required to fix the wiper motor and the pair of pivot axes, respectively, the number of components is increased, and tightening work for connection and fixing is required. As a result, there is a problem in that work efficiency is reduced. Further, because a space for connecting respective attaching portions to and fixing the same at the pipe member is required, there is another problem in that downsizing may be sacrificed, and the structure becomes complicated. The invention was developed to solve these and other problems.